Mineral
nutrition is one of the least understood components of the bovine
diet. I consider mineral supplements to be an indispensable
management tool that the American cattle person must learn how to use
in order to maintain the productivity of his/her herd and avoid
unintended, expensive losses. Next to implementing a well managed
breeding program, compensating for mineral deficiencies created by
depleted soils and other environmental factors is probably the most
important responsibility we have for keeping our livestock healthy and
reproductively sound. If we, as cattle producers, do not
understand the logistics of mineral nutrition then we are at the mercy
of the trained consultant working for a big mineral company, a feed
store manager (who may not even own a cow), the veterinarian who
charges by the hour, or perhaps just as bad the fallacies of our own
ignorance. In any event, more often then not we don’t get the
proper mineral nutrition into our animals that it takes to put an end
to the health and performance problems that take away profits
(mastitis, cow pox, ringworms, foot rot, parasite infestation, ecoli
scours, retained placenta, reproduction, pink-eye and many other).

The key to mineral nutrition is
not only bioavailability but also balance in the ration.
Minerals that are fed in the correct proportions for your particular
environment will provide
the support your animals need to stay healthy and reproduce abundantly.

A
properly balanced mineral supplement can virtually eliminate most
health problems including Ecoli scours in baby calves and diarrhea in
the adult animals. Early shedding of the winter hair coat come
springtime is very important and closely associated with reproduction
ability and good health. Both are affected and can be
greatly improved with proper balanced mineral nutrition.

Dairy
cows probably suffer more from mineral deficiencies than beef animals
because of the pressure put on them to produce great volumes of
milk. Most dairy cows are in confinement and living in a
monoculture-type environment.

It has been my experience that, for the most part, it is a low or slow
immune response resulting from inadequate or imbalanced mineral
nutrition that causes low pregnancy rates, high levels of mastitis, and
high bacteria cell counts in the milk. Taking away a cow’s
ability to find and choose her own food, keeping her confined - unable
to move freely - or circulate toxins out of her body and instead
bringing her every bite she consumes to where she stands, requires a
very keen artistic knowledge of animal biology and a very keen artistic
eye to watch her for symptoms associated with mineral deficiencies
and/or other nutritional imbalances that come with confinement
management if one is to keep health problems at bay.

It
was during the mid 1970’s that a large majority of my young calves came
down with Ecoli scours and it was near devastating. I had
to find out why and how to prevent it in the future. I learned
through the trauma of that sickness the critical importance of minerals
in the bovine diet, the role they play in the health of my cows and
their calves, and whether I could continue to take the losses or find
the solutions and continue to support my family.

I
began the search for answers and through the process of educating
myself about mineral nutrition. I learned what the essential
minerals were and the amount of each that was required to keep my
animals healthy. I studied the list of contents on many different
mineral bags and taught myself how to convert parts per million (ppm)
into milligrams per ounce (mg/oz.) and how to convert percentages (%)
to milligrams per ounce. These are the various units of measure
for the minerals that are listed on the tag or label of the mineral bag.

It
is my intent here to share with you what I’ve discovered regarding
minerals and what amounts of each is necessary to promote and sustain
the health of our cattle. Many of these minerals are actually
inorganic metals and are called micronutrients because they are only
needed in small, minute amounts. Regardless they are needed in a
“big way” to keep the endocrine, digestive, reproductive, immune and
other animal biological systems functioning properly.

Now,
when you look at the tag on a mineral bag you will notice that the
calcium and phosphorus amounts are given as a ratio. Common
ratios are 1.5-1, 2-1, or even 1-1 calcium to phosphorus. There
really are many different mixture amounts used in the mineral
formulation and in some areas where the soil phosphorus is known to be
in the high side, there could be very little or none of this mineral
put in the mix.

Cattle
do require salt and it is normal for cows to consume about 2 ounces a
day. Adding salt to the mineral mix is a common way to control or
limit over consumption.

Some people will buy mineral and salt separately and then mix the two
together pound for pound. That concoction will have very little
value to the animal. A typical 50# bag of mineral is designed to
be fed at the rate of 2 to 4 ounces per animal/day. Each ounce
supplies specific amounts of the many different minerals and is to be
fed at the recommended rate to achieve the desired response.
Adding additional salt will decrease daily intake and dilute the
mixture thus reducing the effectiveness (benefits) of the minerals for
your cows, bulls and calves.

The
pH of the water that your animals consume is important and can have
negative consequences if it is too low or too high.

The ideal range for water pH is between 6.3 and 7.2. An easy way
to check your water pH is with Litmus paper. If your water has a
high pH, is high in iron, sodium or other minerals, your cattle may not
drink all that they require to stay adequately hydrated. The
chemical effect of water that is high in iron is that copper becomes
bound and unavailable which most definitely creates health problems.

In
the ideal world, cattle would get the correct amounts of all the
required minerals from the grass and forages they consume. But
for many reasons, from environment (and uterine environment) to
genetics to management, our cattle do not get the minerals they require
to maintain health and a high reproductive status and therefore must be
supplemented accordingly. Lush green grass and legumes growing
from a living, fertile soil will provide many of the nutrients
(minerals) that cattle need to meet the demands we place on them and as
such should not need the level of supplementation that they would
require at other times of the year or when pasture growing conditions
change from favorable.

Research
has determined the mineral dietary requirements for cattle and the
information below lists these minerals and what amounts the identified
author has determined to be necessary for a cow to consume each day to
remain healthy, reproduce and thrive in their environment.

The
following values are not intended to be a specific formula that will
accurately match your animals’ needs. Because conditions are
different and unique to each farm/ranch, the following information is
presented as a guide to help you understand and recognize the role
minerals play in the health of your livestock. Notice how some
minerals affect others.

Animals
can experience mineral deficiencies as well as mineral toxicities and
often times the physical signs are similar. When you learn
how to identify both deficiency and toxicity signs and know their
affects, you then realize how to adjust your mineral program so that it
will support the highest levels of health and production in your cow
herd.

The
following information that is in italics font comes straight from the
book Mineral Levels In Animal
Health: Diagnostic Data written by Robert Puls. The book is a
master piece for learning how to manage your cattle’s health. It was
published by Sherpa International, 1062-256th Street, Aldregrove, BC
V4W 2J3. Phone/fax 604-856-7534.

Calcium

Deficiency
Signs:

Dullness,
lethargy, trembling of hindquarters and weakness of legs with broken or
weak bones after prolonged deficiency. Subclinical hypocalcaemia
can occur – stillborn calves and retained placentas may result.

Milk
fever is one of the major calcium deficiencies that plague the dairy
industry.Calcium
cont.

Acute
signs - lassitude, inappetance, dyspnea and death. Blind staggers
or Alkali Disease, loss of hair, cracked or deformed hooves and
lameness. Current research indicates blind staggers may not be caused
by selenium. Toxicity of the selenium accumulating plants (Astragalus
Sp.), may not be due to Selenium but other organic toxins in the same
plants.

The
dietary requirement for selenium for the cow range from 4 to 6
milligrams a day.Only
3 milligrams per helping/day of selenium is allowed by law.
Purchased mineral is commonly close to 26 PPM. That 26 PPM is 0.73
milligrams per ounce.

Dietary
Iodine requirements range from 25 to 28 milligrams per cow/day.Purchased
minerals that contain iodine commonly have 3 to 5 milligrams per ounce.
Some manufactures have higher amounts and it will be labeled in PPM.

Toxicity
in adult cattle is uncommon. 2.0% zinc in dairy feed has killed
mature cows. Zinc at 6-8 PPM in drinking water may adversely
affect cattle. Pancreatitis occurs with > 1600 PPM dietary
zinc. 500 PPM zinc in milk replacer or 1.5-2.0 grams of zinc
per/head/day for 30 days is toxic to preruminant calves. High
zinc intake interferes with calcium metabolism. 120 milligrams of zinc
(as oxide) per kg of body weight for 3 days can cause hypocalcaemia.

Toxicity
Signs:

Young
calves are more susceptible than adults. Excessive bawling,
increased milk replacer consumption, diarrhea and polyuria followed by
pica, then reduced appetite, submandibular edema and emaciation.
Pneumonia, ocular signs, bloat and cardiac errhythmias may occur,
terminating in tonic-clonic convulsions, nystagmus and lack of
sensorium. Increased incidence of arthritis and milk fever may
occur in adults.

Zinc
requirements for cows range from 1200 to 1600 milligrams per day.Purchased
minerals that contain 3000 PPM will have 85.22 milligrams per ounce.Purchased
minerals with 1.9% zinc will contain 539.6 milligrams per ounce.

Indicated
by reduced appetite and growth rate, anemia and abdominal
discomfort. Abortion and cystic ovaries may be associated with
excess manganese. Manganese is excreted in bile at rate of 12.7 umol/kg
liver.

Irritability,
trembling, frothing at mouth, hyperaesthesia, tetany, incoordination,
convulsions and death. Death is often sudden with no prior
signs. Sub-clinical hypomagnesemia may reduce food intake and
adversely affect milk yield and heart function. Magnesium appears
to play a role in activation of vitamin D. Hypomagnesemia reduces
calcium mobilization in steers, non-pregnant lactating cows and cows at
parturition.

Example:
Tag on mineral bag indicates the selenium content to be at 26 PPM per
serving.1.
26 PPM X .0284 (conversion factor) = 0.7384 mg/ounce. If
the feeding instructions call for 4 ounces/head/day than 0.7384
milligrams/ounce X 4 ounces would equal 2.95 milligrams - the amount of
selenium your cows would consume a day with that mineral. Do you
think their systems would be deficient, adequate or toxic with this
amount of selenium?

Are
you starting to get the idea why it is so important to read and
understand labels?

Often times it is necessary to buy
individual minerals and add additional amounts of them to a mix
already put together in order to get the required amounts up to where
they need to be. The content of the mineral in that
“individual” mineral bag is typically given as a percent.

If
needing to add extra: Calcium - look for Calcium Carbonate with a
content of 38%.

Calcium
and Phosphorus – look for Dicalcium Phosphate with the content of 21%
calcium & 18% Phosphorus or Mono Calcium Phosphate with the content
of 18% calcium & 21% phosphorus.

Copper
– look for Copper Sulfate with a content of 25.2%.

Magnesium
– look for Magnesium Sulfate with a content of 31.5%.

Zinc
– look for Zinc Sulfate with a content of 35.5%.You
should now be able to read most any mineral bag label or batch mix tag
that a mill prepares and determine, using the formulas above, what
amounts of each mineral your cattle are taking in assuming they
ingest the recommended daily amount. The last point I wish to
make is that some sources of minerals are more biologically available
then others and certain minerals are antagonistic to others which means
one may counteract the effect of another. Start with the
information presented here and I am confident you will see favorable
results.

NOTE: Many cattlemen are
finding it increasingly difficult to purchase individual minerals in
bulk. If this is your experience we suggest you contact LancasterAG in Lancaster,
Pennsylvania. They have very reasonable rates and do ship."Only be strong and very courageous,
that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My
Servant commanded you; do not turn to the right hand or to the left
that you may prosper where ever you go." Joshua 1:7